Study: Porn Stars Aren’t “Damaged” by Their ProfessionA report finds adult actresses are happier than the rest of us -- and that being naked might lead to self-esteem.
November 28, 2012 |

A common stereotype of a female porn star is an insecure, sexually abused, mentally ill and/or drug-addled woman. It’s one supported by anecdotes (most memorably by Linda Lovelace’s harrowing autobiography) and rhetoric (the feminist scholar Catharine MacKinnon went so far as to claim that all porn actresses were sexually abused as children). But as for actual research? Eh, not so much.

Now, a new study claims to have debunked this truism, which is known as the “damaged goods hypothesis.”

Some performers were amused by the news. “As a happy, healthy female porn performer, my reaction is: thanks, science, thanks so much for proving I am real,” says writer and porn performer Lorelei Lee in an email.

On a similar note, porn actress Dylan Ryan tells me, “It’s about time that research catches up to the realities for a great many women who perform in porn,” she says in an email. “It’s important to me as a performer that the conversation evolve and develop to make space for the (as in any community and population) diversity of experiences, personalities and lifestyles of porn performers.”

Adult actress and director Kimberly Kane took a different tack. “I’ve found that everyone is damaged no matter what line of work they’re in,” she says.

Researchers compared self-reports from a group of nearly 200 porn actresses to those of women outside the industry who were similar in age, ethnicity and marital status. Not only did the report show no higher incidence of child sexual abuse or psychological problems among female performers, but it actually found that pornsters had higher levels of self-esteem and sexual satisfaction....

This is VERY difficult to measure. Just 15 years ago, most people thought of porn actresses as something akin to prostitutes. Porn was illegal to make in most of the country (I think florida, California, and nevada were the only places where it was legal) because the law in most states put it in the same category as prostitution.

Prostitution is an industry ripe with lots of "damaged" women, many of whom are runaways with drug problems and a history of sexual abuse.

In Nevada, where prostitution is legal and the state regulates the industry, the stigma is somewhat lessened. So yes, there are still "damaged" prostitutes in Nevada, but there are plenty of women who enter the profession legally and voluntarily without any "damage" per say.

Flash forward to the internet age, and porn is now a huge industry. Women watch porn MUCH more now than they ever have. They enjoy it. Men can now watch porn WITH their girlfriends and wives. It has become akin to a sexual aid like dildos, instead of the marriage wrecking, vice it was once seen as. With that acceptance comes a notoriety for the porn stars. The industry is safer, and the actresses are treated like "talent" instead of fodder. The girls getting into the industry now have grown up masturbating to porn, and enjoy it. They seek out the profession as a career choice. My guess is, very few of the porn stars 10 or 15 years ago did that. They probably "fell into" porn, much the same way prostitutes in states where it isn't legal do.

If you're one of the lucky few guys who got to work in porn with all the porn star chicks, the aftermath of getting out of the business has got to be devastating. How do you all of a sudden go from constantly ****ing hot chicks on film to having a normal sex life?

As a result of this, the number of fathers who want their daughters to work in porn is still zero. Contrastingly, the number of fathers who want other people's daughters to work in porn is an all time high.

If you're one of the lucky few guys who got to work in porn with all the porn star chicks, the aftermath of getting out of the business has got to be devastating. How do you all of a sudden go from constantly ****ing hot chicks on film to having a normal sex life?

Yes.... Don't be grateful for the gift you once had, focus on having lost it for normalcy... That's the problem with people today, just be grateful for what you have/had...

Flash forward to the internet age, and porn is now a huge industry. Women watch porn MUCH more now than they ever have. They enjoy it. Men can now watch porn WITH their girlfriends and wives. It has become akin to a sexual aid like dildos, instead of the marriage wrecking, vice it was once seen as. With that acceptance comes a notoriety for the porn stars. The industry is safer, and the actresses are treated like "talent" instead of fodder. The girls getting into the industry now have grown up masturbating to porn, and enjoy it. They seek out the profession as a career choice.

Initially DENIAL can be sooooo comforting but in the end reality comes into play........

Not trying to get all religious on anyone here but......

Godlessness in the Last Days

1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5, having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

6, They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, 7, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. 8, Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth—men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. 9 But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.

__________________"All real Americans love the sting of battle and may God have mercy on my enemies because I wont".

'Progressivism' is nothing more than a dressed up co-opted term for 'Marxism'.

Initially DENIAL can be sooooo comforting but in the end reality comes into play........

Not trying to get all religious on anyone here but......

Godlessness in the Last Days

1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5, having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

6, They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, 7, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. 8, Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth—men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. 9 But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.

@ I'm not trying to be religious but here's some scripture. You are a ****ing douche.

I wasn't trying to be religious. Even Jesus hated 'religiosity' in people(Pharisees and Saduccees of his day) Phonies basically who talked one way and lived another. Like you Jesus hated the hypocrisy of his day. I wasn't trying to proselytize anyone just stating the obvious absolute truths of our culture and society of today and how it related to Jesus's words about the end times.

__________________"All real Americans love the sting of battle and may God have mercy on my enemies because I wont".

'Progressivism' is nothing more than a dressed up co-opted term for 'Marxism'.